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Ovulation

Ok ladies, So my husband and I are trying to fall pregnant and we are a couple that wants to know exactly how it all works! I have some questions about Ovulation...

Firstly, My period fell on the 22nd December 2012.

On the 5th January (15 days later, including the very first day of my period) my breasts were very painful. Every other day after that (6th, 7th, 8th, 9th) I have had different CM. And from what I have been told (by the lovely Kate) is that this is a sign. Today (10th) my breast are still sore, but definitely not as tender. But what I have noticed is some pain. Which I dont get every month. But this pain to me means that my body is actually releasing the egg. Does this sound correct.

What I am confused on though is the different CM. Some days I had stretchy, clear CM, other day I had some clumps of it that were hard. At what days and what order should these occur? Or does it not matter?

I understand that the clear CM is good for fertility because it makes it easy for the sperm to swim and meet the egg, and that the Sticky creamy coloured CM makes it harder for sperm. Now I would imagine, that your body would produce the CM that was hard to swim through first, then when your body is almost ready to ovulate it would create the clear CM last? For me, this month I believe it was in the wrong order?

Days 1-5 bleed
Days 6-9 dry
Days 10 - clump of mucus similar to dried rubber cement, which can be picked up between your fingers. Sometimes you will find this on your underwear, sometimes you will see it hanging from your pubic hair, sometimes you will find it on the toilet paper after you wipe.
Day 11 - cervical mucus becomes creamier, white in color, and sticky
Day 12 - cervical mucus is less sticky, more creamy and may start to turn more clear in color. Can be stretched maybe an inch between your fingers.
Day 13 - cervical mucus is more clear and can stretch maybe 2-3 inches between your fingers
Day 14 - cervical mucus is very clear, has the consistency of egg white, and can stretch 4-6 inches between your fingers, without breaking

Day 14 - Ovulation

Day 15 - Cervical mucus will start to go back to being dry
Day 16 - 28 Cervical Mucus will be dry (conception cannot occur because ovulation happened 48 hours earlier)

Day 29 you start bleeding again, so you don't count this day as part of this cycle - it becomes Day 1 of the next cycle, telling you that you had a 28 day cycle last month.

If you are pregnant, you may not go completely dry after ovulation - some women do not, and it is a sign of pregnancy for them. This was a sign of pregnancy with my last 2 babies, but was not a sign of pregnancy with my first 3.

Now - that's for a 28 day cycle. If you were going to have a 31 day cycle, then you'd see your mucus change on day 13, rather than day 10 (as long as you were going to have a good, 14 day luteal phase).

If you are experiencing hormonal imbalance, then you may see the cervical mucus changes at various times throughout the cycle, and this can be an indication of PCOS. Here's a thread that discusses how to get pregnant if you have irregular cycles and we touch on PCOS in this thread.